The Red Snapper Act wasn’t the only bill that passed the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee this week that would have an impact on domestic fisheries.
In the same meeting, the panel also approved the bill that would reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Act. That bill included provisions from the Modern Fish Act, which advocates say give NOAA Fisheries flexibility in applying annual catch limits to species in the South Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.
The recreational fishing industry has pushed for the legislation, saying previous versions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act have not properly addressed their concerns. They say that the act has led to truncated recreational fishing seasons and reduced catch limits.
Mike Nussman, the president of the American Sportfishing Association, said federal fisheries management policy has treated the recreational industry, which he said generates 440,000 jobs, as an afterthought. Jeff Angers, the president of the Center for Sportfishing Policy, agreed.
“The importance of this legislation to the recreational fishing and boating community was made clear by tens of thousands of advocates who have made their voices heard by contacting their elected officials in recent months,” Angers said.
While anglers see the new provisions as adding flexibility to fishing laws, conservation groups see it as a threat to fish stocks.
“H.R. 200 would exempt key fisheries from science-based catch limits, undermine the recovery of depleted fish populations, take management options away from local fishery leaders, and stifle innovation by fishing communities,” said Matt Tinning, the senior director for the Environmental Defense Fund’s U.S. Oceans Program.
Molly Masterson, a project attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, added that the reauthorization bill also would allow fishery managers to override environmental regulations called for in such legislation as the Antiquities Act.
“Just as it does not make sense to put fishery management councils in charge of protecting our marine national monuments and marine sanctuaries – our ‘blue parks’ – it also does not make sense to put these councils in charge of recovering the nation’s endangered and threatened ocean wildlife,” she wrote in a blog post.
The bill now moves to consideration by the full U.S. House of Representatives.
